The Gentleman's Top 50 Albums Thread v. DONE

[GentlemanofDread]

36.Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends- Coldplay (2008)

Uh. Hello, Coldplay. I'd like think a lot of people will be foaming at the mouth at this. But, hey, I love it! It's very... well, it has texture to it, at least. That's something I really love about this album. Might be all that texture in places, the mixture of some great mellow tracks (Cemeteries of London) to some awesome rocking tracks (Lost?), I love it. It's just appealing to everything I love about music sometimes. Rich in texture, with different moods, but a good theme rocking through..
Recommended Tracks: Cemeteries of London and Lost?

35. The Division Bell- Pink Floyd (1994)

The last Pink Floyd outing. It's certainly, like the album previously, rich in texture, but not in the same way. This is more.. Well, like a bunch of people gathered to tell stories of other people. Certainly, with tracks like "Poles Apart", "Keep Talking", "Wearing the Inside out" and "Take it Back", it's more.. chilled out than a lot of other Pink Floyd albums, but the themes that were constant in PF's work are still there. But it's a great album, from start to finish.
Recommended Tracks: "Wearing the Inside Out" & "Keep Talking"

[nicmos]

Division Bell is a great album.  Maybe except for Wearing the Inside Out, which I just find boring.   Coldplay has some great music.  I don't remember the last time I listened to this particular album, but I agree with most of what you said about their style.  And I like Chris Martin's vocals.

[Sketchy]

Wearing The Inside Out is one of my favourites from that album, and Keep Talking rules hard, but dat slide solo in High Hopes. Dat slide.

Also, I didn't get why Marooned was on the Echoes compilation until I heard the version on TDB. I am still firmly convinced they cut the part that actually makes that instrumental as great as it is.

[GentlemanofDread]

34.Piece of Mind- Iron Maiden (1983)

I'm sure many people have listed this great album as their favourite Iron Maiden album, and I can see why. "Flight of Icarus",  "Die With Your Boots on", "The Trooper" and "To Tame a Land" are amazing songs, but the rest aren't too shabby! It's got a bit more bite, I feel, than some other Iron Maiden albums, a little more raw too it, and this really can make an album sound more.. organic to my ears. Make it sound like something that grows on me and I can just listen too constantly.
Recommended Tracks: "Die With Your Boots On" and "To Tame a Land"

33. Space Shanty- Khan (1972)

KHAAAAAAAAN. Canterbury Scene hits again at 33, and certainly, it's a different kind to Gong. It's more.. normal, if that's a word that fits. Certainly, it's less druggy, more instrumental based, and certainly the sound is much different, but considering Hillage (The guitarist) went onto Gong, there's some small little similarties. But you certainly don't need to know that. This album is just a Progressive Rock joy from start to end. But, it's a bit hard to get a hold of sometimes, and I'm not even sure if it's on youtube. So..
Recommended Track: "Space Shanty"

[jjrock88]

Piece of Mind is an awesome album!!

[Outcrier]

Surprised to see Space Shanty, one of my favorites from Canterbury Scene as well 

[ThatOneGuy2112]

POM is one of many fantastic Maiden albums.

I need to get into more Canterbury Scene stuff. Will give this a try soon.

[ColdFireYYZ]

Nice to see some more Canterbury Scene!

[Big Hath]

only the 4th mention of PoM.  The Maiden love is spread out over many albums.

[jingle.boy]

only the 4th mention of PoM.  The Maiden love is spread out over many albums.

Wow... that's amazing.  Pretty sure I had it on my list.  Pound-for-pound, it's their most solid in my opinion.  No duds whatsoever.  Nice to see the love for The Division Bell.  Great concluding album from PF - that's the way to go out on a high note.

[GentlemanofDread]

32. Standing On The Shoulder of Giant- Oasis (2000)

Yes. Oasis. Yes. Standing On The Shoulder of Giant. It's an album that me and my brother both love, for exactly the same reasons. It was bittersweet, it was something that was.. well, very British at the turn into the 21st century. It's also the album with the most Noel Gallagher instrumental performances/vocal performances on it from Oasis. Might have something to do with it. It's more, at least I feel, heavier in terms of atmosphere on this album, which gives us great tracks from the band like "Sunday Morning Call" and "Where Did It All Go Wrong?", but neither of these are the best tracks from any version (coughjapaneseversion). First off, "Gas Panic", the best Oasis song. It's the most mature song they did. But, Japan got.. "Let's All Make Believe." Oh my god. Acoustic guitar based, it's the epitome of the entire album and didn't make it on for anyone else!
Recommended Tracks: "Gas Panic!" and "Let's All Make Believe"

31. Smother- Wild Beasts (2011)

Remember the festival I went to? Where I discovered Buke and Gase? I discovered Wild Beasts, and in particular, they played this album in full. It's a restless dream pop album, it was so breathtakingly beautiful that I couldn't help but lose myself to the music in a crowd that bustled. "Invisible" is all I need to recommend to you. I can't describe this, other than "Dream Pop" fits the band so very well.
Recommended Track: "Invisible"

[jingle.boy]

Don't know either.

[GentlemanofDread]

I'm not expecting many to know Wild Beasts, at least. People should fix that.

[mikemangioy]

nice list so far

[Scorpion]

A little (try very!) late to that particular party but can I just say that you are awesome for listing Viva la Vida? Yes, I think I can. You're awesome.

[GentlemanofDread]

30. Different Class- Pulp (1995)

Ah, yes, Pulp. The granddaddies of Britpop, with their catchy beats with the depressing undertone, Different Class is a pretty good album from the Britpop Era. Probably the best of them, infact. Jarvis Crocker's voice helps really make this a great album, if that makes sense? There's nothing too special from the other instruments but the vocals are just something special. Lots of people might know "Common Peope", but my personal favourite is "Mis-Shapes", the opener. Fantastic little piece.

29. Halo 2 Soundtrack- Various (2004/2006)

Best Video Game Soundtrack, ever. Everything from the Steve Vai guitars to the synths to the orchestras, it's an excellent listening experience without the visual part. Steve Vai is incredible on this, but really, I don't want to ramble on about all the different styles. With the rock, the synths, the granduer, the subtle, the mysterious, this soundtrack has everything.

[Sacul]

I haven't heard that soundtrack but I doubt that there will ever be a better video game soundtrack than on Skyrim. Jeremy Soule is a freaking genius.

[GentlemanofDread]

 28. Is There Anybody Out There? The Wall Live 1980–81 - Pink Floyd (2000)

Hello, the best version of The Wall.  It's good to listen to you again. This is what I consider to be the definitive version of The Wall, the best version of the vision that Roger Waters had.  It's got everything, from added charm to some hijinks to a new song ("What Shall We Do Now?") and an entirely new instrumental piece ("The Last Few Bricks") to Crowd Participation ("Run Like Hell".) The band, especially Waters, sound like they're really enjoying themselves in presenting such a unique presentation in terms of live presentation. Simply put, it's a louder, better version of "The Wall" that people love so much. Go listen to "What Shall We Do Now?" and "Run Like Hell" to see what I mean.
Recommended tracks: "What Shall We Do Now?" & "Run Like Hell"

(Another post will be going up tomorrow)

[GentlemanofDread]

27. Urban Hymns- The Verve (1997)

More Britpop, more Verve, and this one is considered to be THE album for The Verve and I completely agree. It's an iconic album, hell, it might be the album I'd call the album of the British Nineties. It's just.. well, Bittersweet from start to end. It's got that little charm in songs like "Sonnet" and "Lucky Man", to the granduer of stuff like "Bittersweet Symphony" and the incredibly depressing "The Drugs Don't Work". The album is just something real special, and again, Ashcroft's voice gives it that added edge, that little bit more texture, and makes that album just a little bit better.
Recommended Tracks: "The Drugs Don't Work" & "Sonnet"

26. No Place To Go- Ethan Lipton (2009)

LIPTON. So, like Wild Beasts and Buke and Gase, I discovered Ethan Lipton at ATP Festival curated by The National, and he played this album. Infact, I'm purely recollecting the live version here, and I'm going to insert a quote from my friend's (who I went with, Paul Faller) as he so very good put it into views.

Our first act on Sunday proves to be another of the weekend’s most surprisingly brilliant artists, Ethan Lipton, presenting a piece of musical theatre entitled No Place To Go. Together with his three-piece band, he delivers a story of a man forced to reconsider his place in the world after his company makes the decision to relocate to Mars. What follows is humorous, charming and even insightful in places – highlights include the ominous ‘Shitstorm’, the song about moving in with his ‘Ageing Middle-Class Parents’, the frantic hilarity of ‘Soccer Song’, and the sub-plot about the final sandwich in the conference room. By the time we’ve gone from the comfort of having a ‘Place To Go’ through to the triumphant, joyful conclusion, there’s no denying that Ethan Lipton & His Orchestra have delivered something fantastically entertaining.

Yep. It's a mixture of Cabriet with Sci-fi with charm and hilarity, and Ethan Lipton is just a phenomenal performer. Plus, he's put the entire studio album (missing the talking bits) on Soundcloud, so give it a listen, for me? https://soundcloud.com/el-ho/sets/place
Recommended Tracks: "Final Sandwich", "Shitstorm" and "Soccer Song"

25. The Afterman: Ascension- Coheed And Cambria (2012)

First things first, I love the cover. Just great. But Coheed and Cambria's Afterman albums are some of the best story telling in an album, and with the hard rocking sound with the weird lighty folky tunes combined with electronica pieces, Coheed and Cambria sure put their whole hand out on the playing field here, and it's just lovely. Even if there's a song I skip [Goodnight Fair Lady] because it makes me uncomfortable (which is what it's supposed to do, and it does it so well), it's still a top 25 album for me. Especially considering "Domino The Destitute", "The Afterman", "Holly Wood the Cracked" and "Vic The Butcher" are all songs I use for influencing me in terms of creativity, it's an amazing album.
Recommended Tracks: "Domino the Destitue", "Holly Wood the Cracked" and "Vic The Butcher"

[Accelerando]

I am a big fan of Pink Floyd's The Wall, and I do agree that Is There Anybody Out There? is an excellent listen. The live "Run Like Hell" is simply put amazing

[GentlemanofDread]

Very amazing! (Also just added years to the last post I forgot to do it oops)

[Sacul]

I've heard good things about The Afterman, seems like an awesome album - will check it later.

[nicmos]

I haven't heard that soundtrack but I doubt that there will ever be a better video game soundtrack than on Skyrim. Jeremy Soule is a freaking genius.

Skyrim does have some great music.  maybe not the best ever, but Soule does have a lot of talent, I hope to hear more from him.  I'll check out Halo 2 for sure after this writeup.  I'm gonna vote for ... Need For Speed 2 (from 1997 I think) as the best video game soundtrack.  It has great guitar rock tunes that I still get stuck in my head to this day despite having not played the game in many many years.

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

Afterman is great.

[GentlemanofDread]

24. The Back Room- Editors (2005)

"Post Punk Revival" is what wikipedia calls Editors and I'm unsure if that's actually a fitting genre or not for them. Amazingly workman like is what I call them, and their style is amazing not only on the first listen, but the second, the tenth and the thirtieth. It's simple, it's well constructed, but it has that energy behind it that I call the English Young Energy. It's just something so uniquely British that it always stands out. Some people might know their famous track, 'Munich', but three track run of 'All Sparks', 'Camera' and 'Fingers in the Factory' is everything that is amazing about the band.
Recommended Tracks: 'All Sparks', 'Camera' and 'Fingers in the Factory'

23. Red- King Crimson

My favourite King Crimson album, and it's just a fantastic album from start to end. The heavy riffs, the violin, the smooth soft sections, the crazy way to end a song, a live improv, Red has everything that I could want from King Crimson. The title track and 'Starless' show the range that the band has, especially with the slow violin build up with 'Starless' and the guitar just playing two notes, taking the role of what the bass should be doing..

[Scorpion]

Starless is the tits.

[ThatOneGuy2112]

Starless is tied with The Sheltering Sky and about half of the songs on ITCOTCK for my favorite King Crimson song. Red is fantastic.

[Sacul]

While I find Red to be a really weird album, it also has that brilliant vibe that makes it all fit together and have sense. Really good album.

[Sketchy]

KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN

Also I god damn love Red so much.

I've not heard Editors in so long, I think I'll listen to that album at work today.

[GentlemanofDread]

22. Brave New World- Iron Maiden (2000)

The return of Dickinson to the fold of Iron Maiden as well as Adrian Smith. Three Guitarists, and the useage of all of them is really what pushes this album this high up. I mean, the return of Dickinson is great and he delivers an almighty performance on 'The Nomad', 'The Thin Line Between Love and Hate' and 'Brave New World', but it's all about how amazing the guitarists meld to create this sound scape of aggression, of that bite that happens. It's amazing.
Recommended Tracks: 'The Nomad', 'The Thin Line Between Love and Hate' and 'Brave New World'

21. Grace and the Bigger Picture- Johnny Foreigner (2009)
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/b/b9/Graceandthebiggerpicture.jpg/220px-Graceandthebiggerpicture.jpg
Johnny Foreigner are that aggressive indie rock that randomly sprouted up, really. With that harsh indie sound and casual topics handled through their music, it's a very good listen, and still an album I revisit a lot. Just, not much to say about it really, I can't pick a recommended song because you either love the band or hate them.

[Scorpion]

I, for the most part, prefer Iron Maiden live version to Iron Maiden studio versions, so I was extremely pissed that my four favourite songs on this album are exactly the four that the band chose to omit on Rock in Rio.

[GentlemanofDread]

I, for the most part, prefer Iron Maiden live version to Iron Maiden studio versions, so I was extremely pissed that my four favourite songs on this album are exactly the four that the band chose to omit on Rock in Rio.

I'm with you there! They're tracks I really wished I had live versions of.

[Lowdz]

BNW is not an album I would reach for when wanting some Maiden. Old school all the way (+ AMOLAD) for me. Killers to Seventh Son is pretty awesome but after that 

Its an ok album but I can't remember much about it or how any of the songs listed go, though I'm pretty sure it will be alot of repeating the title of the song over and over. 

[ThatOneGuy2112]

Brave New World is a great Maiden record. Not necessarily top-tier for me, but great throughout.

[GentlemanofDread]

20. Unvarnished- Joan Jett (2013)

Unvarnished still hasn't lost it's varnish for me, really. It's the most recent album on this list, still not the highest Joan Jett album, but god damn, it appeals to my love for something simple with that touch of angry class. In fact, what makes this album stand out amongst most Joan Jett albums is the fact I can, at all points, hear the bass guitar. It's something simple as that, or the raw guitar sound in a song like "TMI" that really pushes this up. Joan Jett, on songs like "Fragile" and "Reality Mentality", sounds as good as she ever did.
Recommended Tracks: "TMI", "Fragile" & "Reality Mentality"

19. OK Computer- Radiohead (1997)

One of the best British albums of all time comes from a band that are so undeniably British that it's no wonder that this album is such a downer. But then again, that's usually what people label Radiohead as. Certainly, this album is great. It sounds like a band that just got it, got themselves together and created a masterpiece. But it's hard to describe this album, or this band in fact. Actually, Steven Wilson can describe this album and band quite well. "Here's a band that came from the indie rock tradition that snuck in under the radar when the journalists weren't looking and started making these absurdly ambitious and pretentious—and all the better for it—records." He's right. "Paranoid Android" is this strange and yet incredible piece with all this different vocal delivery (a strength of Thom Yorke), guitar styles and atmosphere, to the outright creepiness of the songs of "Karma Police" and "No Surprises". Go listen. For me. (Why don't we have a Radiohead discography topic lined up yet?)
Recommended Tracks: Paranoid Android, Karma Police and No Surprises.

18. Signify- Porcupine Tree (1996)

Signify, oh man. This is just something special, really, for different reasons than OK Computer. Wilson is pretty much the top of his game for making albums that I could put on and listen to, but Signify is one of the best, if not the best album he worked on with Porcupine Tree. Just, give "Signify", "Sleep of No Dreaming" and "Waiting [Phase One]" a listen if you don't understand why I love this album so much. I don't need to explain. Just listen.
Recommended Tracks: "Signify", "Sleep of No Dreaming" and "Waiting [Phase One]"

17. The Dark Side of the Moon- Pink Floyd (1973)

This masterpiece is where people are most likely going to enter in. It's a great album, not my favourite Pink Floyd album, but it's THE Pink Floyd album. You think of this album, and how special it is. Because, well, it's special. I love it. Maybe not as much as everyone else but.. My favourite track is Eclipse, and that's simply because how magnificent it ends. But let's go through the rest of the album. Speak To Me/Breathe is a pretty incredible opening salvo of music, even if I'm not too sure how Breathe fits into the theme that Pink Floyd was going with. On The Run is interesting work from Richard Wright, but not much to really focus on it for me other than nice.

Time is great, it's very.. English, really. Cynical and a bit humphty, but Great Gig In The Sky is.. not for me, really. I'm just not a fan of the female vocal performance, really. Or the actual person. Money is pretty good, a rocking tune that by now you'd learn to expect and love, but Us and Them is just better for me. Mellow, smoother, a more rewarding audible experience. Especially the sax use. Love it. Any Colour You Like, I feel it got hurt more by the cuts that were made to it during the refining process, it was usually about six to seven minutes long and it fit quite nicely. But Brain Damage and Eclipse are, well.. otherworldy..

Recommended Tracks: Brain Damage, Eclipse and Time